STRONG POP review

KEI MADE ME POST IT IDGAF. OMG LOOK AT THESE SPRITES. Wtf is mad aiji i am appalled okay so anyway. oh found him.

REVIEW

So I just finished listening to Strong Pop after I bought it off iTunes and figured I’d give it a proper review.

First off the digital booklet comes with both Ah Hah! and STRONG POP scans. The booklet is adorable and the little bunny men crack me up and scare me. Maya and Aiji look great which is me being honest and not biased because everyone knows I’m the first to say that Maya has been looking a little skanky lately with how thin he is (and if you say ‘noo he just wore baggy clothes before’, you’re an idiot, his clothes never covered up his face). The lyric book is cute in color scheme and design and the theme is really cute. I’ll upload pictures later.

After oogling the book, I decided to press play. In comes BE STRONG, BE POP. I’ll be honest, I thought this song was going to be the B-E S-T-R-O-N-G! one, but it’s not (surprise, surprise). And I’ll be honest in saying I HATE instrumentals. However this one is actually seriously awesome and kick ass. The way a million strong pops rings out and then a kick ass mix of guitar and electronics. Great opener.

Which brings us into AH HAH! which everyone knows is a good staple for this CD, it really summarizes the direction LM.C has been going lately. Kind of fuck y’all, I’mma do me and you do you booboo kind of business. It’s very do my own thing kind of kick ass. So I have no complaints with it being on the album besides the fact the single was literally released a month ago so what the fuck, LM.C?

Second song starts. In comes Baby Talk. The opening lines alone were enough to steal my heart. The entire time I was squealing and eeking at the song just because of how fucking saccharine it is. You can really tell Maya enjoyed writing this song. The chorus sets a nice change of pace to the otherwise bubble gum areas this produces and the last line, like the first, will make you squeal like a little girl. Unless I’m just fucking weird.

Change of pace and into SUPER DUPER GALAXY. No one can hate this song. It is seriously their best song in recent years and if you can’t jam out to it or act a fool, you’re just missing out.

Then onto MY BOY, which mirrors it’s coupling song my girl quite nicely. The opening instrumental has a kind of sexy feel to it and immediately got me excited to hear the rest. You can tell Maya is deliberately trying to cutesy it up in the way that he sings, kind of nasally, kind of idol-ish. It’s easily one of my favorite songs on the album, but the random part where a girl starts rapping threw me, and probably you, for a loop.

In comes Goak-on-SOUL. The best way to describe this song is the maturer older brother of edo FUNK. Seriously, listen to it, and tell me I’m wrong. Also I will never stop laughing that LM.C wrote a song about speed dating.

Then the S-T-R-O-N-G P-O-P WE ARE LM.C BLABLABLA song comes on. And I won’t lie, I love the woahs and the homage to Gwen Stefani spelling easy shit out. This will easily be something fun to do at lives. I see what you did there, boys.

Combat Mode comes on. At this point in the album, I hope you’re sitting down, because LM.C decides to pull something out of left field. They straight up bitch slap you with a fist full of nostalgia. If there is ever a song where you go “This is LM.C”, Combat Mode is it. At first unimpressive, it quickly becomes the staple of the album and LM.C as a whole.

Peekaboo comes next, which is kind of an odd choice in terms of line up because it seriously doesn’t do well right after Combat Mode. The song itself is similar to BABY TALK and it’s a cute and catchy song, but it just seemed to sober you up way too quickly from Combat Mode.

Hoshi no Arika comes on and we’re greeted with the rock out, hop around, follow the stars bull shit we’re used to when it comes to these boys.

Suddenly the album changes. Nanimo Hajimaranakatta Ichinichi no Owarini comes on. If you’re an LM.C fan, whether you’re new or old, the first line in itself will have you bawling like a baby. “On the day that nothing happened, we were both looking up at the sky.” Those of us that aren’t familiar, Nanimo was written by Maya as a birthday present for his longtime senpai and guitarist, Aiji. That first line alone strikes you because of the history these boys have, and how much heart Maya put into this song is so painfully evident that it’s hard to ignore. Each line is a memory and a promise and it’s so heart wrenchingly on point that I wish the album ended with this song.

But it doesn’t, it ends with Let Me’ Crazy, which I’ve always thought to be the most uninspiring song. However it’s LM.C, and I won’t fault them for this.

9/10, which is a huge jump from the 6/10 that I gave Wonderful Wonderholic about two years back. Old LM.C meets new LM.C, has a baby, and then gays it up by Maya telling Aiji “On the day that nothing I realized why I love you.” The end.

Your review was amusing and pretty much hit the nail on the head of my reaction for some songs. Overall I think for me Strong Pop has surpassed my long time favorite album Gimmical Impact!! All of the songs are very catchy and feel like a breath of fresh air. I love everything on this album!!! T_T <--- (tears of joy). BTW, the last part made me lol. X3

Loved the way you described each song xD I agree with you~ specially when it comes to «Old LM.C meets new LM.C, has a baby, and then gays it up by Maya telling Aiji “On the day that nothing I realized why I love you.” The end.» (and maya still says he wants a girl... Lies, it's all lies! xD)

Hmm... after listening to the album 6 times, I still have a hard time choosing which new song is my most favorite. -_- Each song has its own uniqueness and style. I can tell that they put a lot of work into making this and I think it came out perfect! ^^ I can't get enough of this album!!! XDDD and the songs get stuck in my head 24/7.

I like your review a lot! Especially the last bit ;D
And I love the new album! Still can't decide on my favorite song of it though.. And I agree with you: normally I don't like instrumentals either, but the ones on this album are simply great!

Lovely write up of the album. Its wonderful to see the direction they are heading in. The whole album is a breath of fresh air and doesn't disappoint. I loved Wonderful Wonderholic as much as I loved Gimmical Impact! But this album is just...I don't have any words for it and it's been blasting on repeat since it came in the mail yesterday.

I'm so proud of Maya and Aiji for creating an album that really leaves me speechless. Combat Mode really is something else. This album will definitely be wonderful to see live.